After swimming in his first NCAA meet in record breaking fashion a couple weeks ago at the Pac-12 Championships, Arizona junior Brad Tandy earned a title in the 50 free to lead the Wildcats on day one at the NCAA Championships at Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center on Thursday.

Tandy, who was seeded second in the 50 free after a prelim time of 18.96, actually tied Kristian Gkolomeev of Alabama in the finals with identical times of 18.95. The tie was only the third tie in the 50 free in NCAA history. Tandy shattered the school record with a time of 18.80 in his victory at the Pac-12 Championships. He became just the second Wildcat to ever win the 50 free as Roland Schoeman claimed the title back in 2002.

The Wildcats are sixth in the team standings with 68.5 points. Texas leads the team competition with 146 points, while California (145) and Florida (137) round out the top-three.

The Wildcats opened the night with a fifth-place finish in the 200 free relay as the team of Tandy, Giles Smith, Jeff Amlee and Mitchell Friedemann recorded a time of 1:16.80.

Matt Barber picked up seven points for the Cats in the 500 free as he clocked in with a time of 4:15.08 to finish second in the "B" final.

Meanwhile, sophomore Rafael Quintero earned a sixth-place finish in the 1-meter diving competition with a final score off 393.15.